Cities have a key role to play in addressing global challenges and implementing the Europe 2020 strategy. The objectives set cannot be achieved without the active involvement, commitment and ownership of cities. For this to happen, policy objectives, instruments and implementation have to be adapted to the realities of cities.

These are some of the themes discussed during the forum “CITIES: Cities of Tomorrow: Investing in Europe” that took place in Brussels on February 17-18,.

The Mayor of Rome, Mr. Ignazio Marino, was among the various European Union city mayors who attended the event and was accompanied by a delegation of Roma Capitale. The delegation included Professor Carlo Maria Medaglia from the Department of Mobility, which is one of Rome’s key stakeholders in the GreenITNet project .

Brussels Diplomatic is following from the start-up phase the results achieved progressively by the GreenITNet project, and has interviewed Mr. Carlo Maria Medaglia in relation to the last phase of the project regarding the implementation of good practices exchanged among the various partner cities.

Mr Carlo Maria Medaglia spoke of the forthcoming study tour scheduled in March in Barcelona, as part of GreenITNet,  to enable the team of Rome’s Department of Mobility to investigate on site in some specific aspects of the bike-sharing good practice, “Bicing” project of Barcelona, such as the functioning of ICT for bike sharing in order to adapt that good practice in the city of Rome shortly, being one of the next actions wished by the Mayor of Rome.